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That's Entertainment

Posted Nov 19 2007, 11:15 AM by Donna Freedman
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At the risk of sounding like a shill -- and I'm not -- the Entertainment Book is going to work really well for me this year. Redeeming just one of the haircut coupons will pay for the book's $20 cost.

In case you aren't familiar with the concept, this is a book of hundreds of coupons for restaurants (fast food, mid-range, hoity-toity), movie theaters, hotels, travel packages, supermarkets, drugstores, cultural attractions, and services ranging from eyeglasses to oil changes. Published by a company based in Troy, Mich., it offers regional editions, sometimes multiple regional editions, in 44 states plus Canada, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Asia.

It's highly unlikely that you'll use all the coupons. For instance, I have no interest in golf, artificial tans or carpet cleaning. It's also hard for me to use the Safeway or Top Food & Drug offers because I don't buy much at a time; families, on the other hand, would probably be glad to use those "$5 off $50 or more" coupons (four for Safeway, seven for Top).

Worth it or not?
But I can get things like a lube/oil/filter service for $15.88, a free sandwich at a local burger palace (my sister and I take turns buying lunch after church), 20 percent off any purchase at True Value Hardware, and buy-one-get-one-free tickets to local concerts, theaters and museums, plus the Seattle Aquarium and the city zoo. Those last two are important considerations because I hope to host visiting relatives this summer.

Some retail outlets sell these books, which makes it easy to page through and see if any of the coupons would be useful. Or you can type your ZIP code at the Web site to browse discounts.

Sweetening the deal
They'll try to get you to buy the book on the home page, but I advise against it. Instead, sign up for a MyPoints account if you don't already have one, and buy your book through the MyPoints home page. You'll get free shipping and 750 points with the purchase of a book. When you get enough points you can redeem them for gift cards.

Now that I think about it, I'm going to figure out the number of hair appointments I'm likely to want in the next year, and buy enough books to cover them all. The salon coupons will pay the cost of the extra books, and I'll get extra MyPoints (right now I'm amassing them to help pay some of my daughter's wedding expenses), cheap oil changes, etc.

And on the Sundays when it's my turn to buy lunch, I can use two-for-one coupons. (Luckily, my sister is as frugal as I am.)

Oh, and here's a bit of thrifty double-dipping: Buy a book through your MyPoints account to get the 750 points. When it arrives, check the index for a "MyPoints.com" listing. (I'm not sure whether it's in every edition or not.) If it's in there, open a new MyPoints account, type in the coupon code and get a free $5 Barnes & Noble gift card.

This book o' deals could help you stay within your "fun money" budget. Plus, your hair will look really nice.




 
 

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Comments

 

We use the Entertainment book at least once a week to go to the movies or eat out--it's a fun [cheap] way to find new places to eat. If we go to an event around town, we'll do a search on Entertainment.com around that address to see if there are any restaurants nearby.

My sweetie and I have contests to see who can use the most coupons. He uses the $1 off gas and lattes, I use things like airport parking and dry cleaning. People who know us have come to expect that we'll suggest a restaurant for dinner that accepts Entertainment book coupons! :)

The Entertainment book has definitely become an entertaining game for us. Here's how many coupons we have used in the last 3 years:

2004-102 coupons

2005-191 coupons

2006-89 coupons

admin (Posted 11.19.07 7:35 PM)

Thank you for the great post-We plan to purchase the entainment book pronto!

Best, Marc long beach CA.

marc brenner (Posted 11.20.07 8:29 AM)

MyPoints only allows one account per person.  If they suspect you have more than one, they'll freeze both accounts.

I'd order the Entertainment Book through Ebates instead.  They pay $6, plus if you click through their link to the Entertainment Book's site, they'll take $5 off your order.  AND, if you join Ebates through an existing member's referral link they'll give you $10 when you join and place your first order.  That's like $20 for ordering the Entertainment Book!  Just do a Google search for "ebates reviews" and you'll find plenty of existing members' reviews and referral links for the $10 signup bonus.

Then, once the book arrives, if you don't already have a MyPoints membership, use the code in the book to get a $5 GC from MyPoints when you join.  :)

I love the Entertainment Book, too!  If you have kids, their KBToys coupons come in handy -- 15% off a $75 purchase or $20 off a $100, and there are two of 'em in the book.  This year's book has a coupon for 50% off up to 8 tickets to the Ringling Brothers circus, too.  Lots of great local restaurant coupons plus some national chains like Bennigans, Sonic, and Pizza Hut.  Don't forget to register your card when you get the book because they have even more printable coupons on their website including some that can be printed multiple times per year.

I'm going on vacation next week and bought a book for Hawaii.  The dining and attraction savings will more than pay for the book!

And one more tip:  if you have last year's Entertainment Book, although most of the local coupons expired on 11/1, don't toss it yet!  The national coupons on the glossy pages of the book don't expire until 12/31 (that includes the KBtoys coupons and some of the mall chain stores like NY and Company, Avenue, Footlocker, etc.) AND they can be used on Black Friday!

Becky (Posted 11.20.07 8:55 AM)

You need to sign up on their web site.

After reading the agreement.

It (appeared ) to me that whoever is signing on

must agree to having cookies track your every

computer move. Didn't want to go there.

Tom (Posted 11.20.07 9:39 AM)

we've been using the entertainment guide for years. i can't even tally the amount of money it's saved us! we definitely take advantage of the restaurant and movie coupons, and the ones for new york and company have helped improve my work wardrobe immensely! and definitely don't discount (no pun intended) the rates on hotels!

make sure you register the card that comes with it. that'll help save money. there's also a ton of deals online that you need to register the card to access.

also, if you sign up for the automatic renewals, they will usually take $5 off the price of the book, plus free shipping.

Jana (Posted 11.20.07 12:30 PM)

I use Inbox Dollars (get paid for emails & surveys).  They had a deal where they paid you $8 & gave you free shipping if you linked to the Entertainment site through them.  So I basically got my $20 book for only $12!!!  

If you want to check it out, go here: www.inboxdollars.com

Sarah (Posted 11.20.07 7:30 PM)

seemed like a great idea.

turns out Maine is one of five states not on the list.

i know we don't have the some of the same stores as the rest of the country, but that doesn't mean we don't like saving money!

call me when they come out with one for Maine.

jennavere (Posted 11.25.07 2:38 PM)

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